Trendy Hoboken once had many bustling synagogues, most of which had closed down during its declining years. Last month Chabad of Hoboken, led by Rabbi Moshe and Shaindel Schapiro, opened a synagogue and Jewish center in time for the holidays.
All of one square mile, Hoboken, actually a part of the New York metropolitan area, sits directly across the Hudson River. The city made headlines in recent months over the “Bridgegate” scandal. But this Sunday, Hoboken’s Mayor Dawn Zimmer and her husband Stan Grossbard, took a break and celebrated the new Chabad center.
“I’m thrilled to be here today to welcome a new home of worship,” Zimmer told the crowd. “Today our tapestry in Hoboken got even more colorful.” The mayor and her husband participated in the Torah dedication, parading past City Hall, and joining in the festivities in the new center.
With a young and entrepreneurial population, every block seems to have a real estate office and a bar. And now, Jewish life here is on the rebound as well. When the Chabad representatives arrived in the city just after 9/11, their prospects for a synagogue did not come easy.
“We just could not get a synagogue off the ground,” says Shaindel, who, with her husband, serves the Jewish community in Hoboken and the outlying cities.
So Chabad programs were held at various venues. When the Shapiros finally found this space and began the project, “the community and the local city rallied behind us donating construction materials and workers. There was an amazing unity.”
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